This Week in Latter-days

There's lots to unpack since we last joined you. Thomas S. Monson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away on January 2 due to age. Monson was a mainstay for Mormon millennials, and his presence will be missed.

Of course, not all was smooth sailing. In the sea of obituaries that came out remembering President Monson's life, the New York Times stood out because of its "mean-spirited" coverage of the fallen leader. Mormons were so upset that the Times dared mention opposition to gay marriage and female ordination that a Change.org petition started circulating. The Times eventually responded, but this did not assuage the anger of a body politic that really does have a persecution complex.

In the interregnum, or rather - interim, we had to remind ourselves what happens to the First Presidency when a prophet dies. After waiting two weeks, the First Presidency was finally reorganized, with Russell M. Nelson as President of the Church. What stunned many, however, was his choice in counselors. Dallin H. Oaks was called as the First Counselor in the First Presidency, and Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor to President Monson, shifted over to Second Counselor.

What of Dieter F. Uchtdorf? He's not in. And that sent some ripples through Mormondom, concerned about his emotional state and the future of the Church. (He's just fine, thank you.) Still, many view the so-called "demotion" of Uchtdorf as something of a deliberate slight against his open, gregarious nature. (Some dare call him a "progressive.") And comparisons to Hugh B. Brown, the only other First Presidency counselor not retained during a prophetic handover unrelated to health issues. We are here to tell you that it's all going to be OK, folks. It's all going to be OK.

Why do we base our involvement in the Church on whether President Oaks or Elder Uchtdorf is helping run the show? How does that reflect on your personal discipleship and willingness to serve in the kingdom?

Naturally, there's some other random news: during the apostolic interregnum, mission calls went out on the letterhead of the Twelve instead of the First Presidency, which is kinda cool; Ann Romney supports Mitt's potential bid for the Senate; Matt Holland, son of Jeffrey R. Holland and president of Utah Valley University, will serve as a mission president in Raleigh, North Carolina; the Genesis Group receives new leadership; Mormons are weirdly approving of Donald Trump; and

Merry Christmas, everyone! We hope you are having a wonderful holiday season. Let's spend an hour together. Allow Al and Geoff to lull you into peace with their dulcet tones.

There's all sorts of temple news, not least of which is the recent announcement that worthy priests will now be able to officiate in baptisms for the dead, just as they do for live baptisms outside of the temple. The news was met with its fair share of snark, mostly because the increased duties for girls are those of existing temple workers, so... passing out towels has become the go-to mockery. Either way, the kids will have more to do!

Building on that, Keepapitchinin has an excellent rundown of the history (or lack thereof) of women in specific temple roles.

Also, apparently Mormons baptized US president Donald Trump's deceased grandparents and parents in the temple. Because they are dead, as Al would (and will) say.

AND the Cedar City Utah Temple was dedicated. President Eyring is an open-mouth smiler.

In fun semi-political news, students attending BYU's Jerusalem Center now face travel restrictions in the wake of changing US policy regarding Jerusalem as the recognized capital of Israel. Neat.

Hey, speaking of Jerusalem, LDS Living culturally clueless post makes it rain with a about Judaism, coupled with a picture of the Dome of the Rock, which is an Islamic holy site. Well done!

Are you excited to learn about how the Mormon Tabernacle Choir finds its guest performers and takes care of them? Look no further than Ron Gunnell, the smooth fixer of all things MoTab. Ron's story is the most wonderful thing of the week. Listen to how much Al loves it!

Jana Riess has found something to complain about! We love you for sticking to form, Jana. Is this too Daily Wire of us in terms of snark? Anyway, priesthood and Relief Society lessons are changing in 2018, and Riess has some reservations. Are they justified? What do you think about lessons largely based on General Conference talks?

A few petitions have circulated about changing Church policy to require bishops to have someone else in the room during youth interviews about sexual topics. Many parents are uncomfortable with children learning about sexual things alone with a bishop. What's your take?

Tiffany and Arianne regale us with stories of Black Friday shopping, British Royals obsessions, Thanksgiving tales, holiday hymns, and the dedication of the Meridian Idaho Temple! Yes, there are Thanksgiving hymns.

Arianne has a "me" problem with the Light the World campaign. It's all about mom guilt!

Miss the big news about Al's and Geoff's kids last week? The Sisters will see you a child and raise you... uh, a baptism in eight years.

In the "news," LDS Living has a super important list of 19 famous people who have been given a copy of the Book of Mormon, including Abraham Lincoln!

Another year, another Lego enthusiast builds temples from those cute little Danish blocks. This time, the budding architect has built a totally-not-to-scale replica of the Sale Lake Tabernacle. But does it have a self-supporting roof?!

Keeping with LDS Living, here are four reasons Mormons are ALWAYS late.

So much great stuff out of the Meridian Idaho Temple dedication! We have stories and thoughts and prayers and happiness all around.

US President Donald Trump visited Utah this week, touring Welfare Square with Church leaders President Henry B. Eyring, Russell M. Nelson, Gerard Causse, and others. Here's a rundown of other US presidents who have visited Utah.

Oh hey, an ISIS sympathizer reportedly took a threatening picture in front of the San Diego California Temple, and the police went bananas.

Single Mormons are desperate to wed, so the Mutual app has some new video that makes fun of going home for Christmas when single. Neat.

Legendary recording artist who happens to be Mormon (but not "Mormon recording artist") Peter Breinholt sits down with Geoff and Al for an extensive interview covering his involvement with the Light the World initiative (#LighttheWorld—use it), including how you can be involved in 25 days of service and music. In addition, we discuss Mormons' relationship with less "worshipful" music and how that could and should change, navigating faith crises, staying relevant as a musician in an evolving scene, and much more. Peter even plays us a few songs. Big thanks to the folks at Boncom for setting all of this up.

Go support Peter and #LighttheWorld this Christmas season by attending one of his concerts:

* Dec. 7 at the Central Utah Educational Services Student Christmas Concert, Richfield, UT - REQUEST TICKETS

* Dec. 15 at the Rose Wagner Theater, Salt Lake City, UT - 8 PM - GET TICKETS

* Dec. 16 at the Rose Wagner Theater, Salt Lake City, UT - 4 PM - GET TICKETS, and 8 PM - GET TICKETS

Everyone join us in celebrating Tiffany's 50th birthday! She has a closet with more square footage than her children's bedrooms!

The Meridian Idaho Temple open house comes to a close, and the Sisters have some great insights into the process of giving tours, including when guides are to speak (or not), the ol' walk and talk, throwup in the celestial room, ruined oil paintings, and the way the public generally trashes a temple during an open house.

In news, Newsweek totally blows a headline about Elizabeth Smart's efforts to improve Mormons' views on sex, staying she is "wary of religion" when in reality, she is wary of people using religion as an excuse for poor behavior. Totally different things! We recommend you send a tweet to Cristina Maza, the piece's author, and sound off about how bad this is.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson reorganizes a stake that he had discontinued ten years prior. The stake was closed as a result of population loss in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Lindsey Stirling continues her dominance on Dancing with the Stars. Dominance!

The Sisters' favorite legal squabble, that of Sodalicious v Swig, ends in a settlement. BORING.

Remember last week's podcast when we talked about a weird video highlighting "weird" food RMs ate on their mission? The Sisters can't get enough! Watch it below.

An Arizona family plans to visit every temple in the world. Good luck making it to Kinshasa!

What the eff is up with this post about Taylor Swift in a "Mormon Temple Dress"? Awful Photoshop and all.

?? SISTER SWIFT GIVEAWAY! BECAUSE HER ALBUM DROPPED TODAY AND I’M FREAKING OUT ?? Ok, if you were here last December you know this giveaway ended up being one of the funniest things to happen on Instagram. You’ll also remember it ruffled some feathers. SO if you think this is tacky (which is kinda is ?????) or it makes you mad… shake it off! Just keep scrolling and I love you, sis! ? NOW FOR THE REST OF YOU… ARE YOU READY FOR IT? Whoever can come up with the best church analogy using a Taylor Swift lyric or title wins a $100 @qnoor_templdress gift card! To Enter ?? Follow @qnoor_templedress ?? Like this post ?? Comment with your Swifty Church analogy and tag your girl squad because we don’t any Bad Blood when they find out they missed this. One entry person and be creative! Note: OBV this is a crap photoshop job. I’m in no way trying to make it seems like @taylorswift is an actual @qnoor_templedress mod...

Should the temple preparation course be changed? It doesn't exactly cover many of the realities of temple attendance, especially for the first time. So why is this manual lacking in so many areas?

The Church will donate $10 million to fund homeless shelters throughout the Salt Lake area, but why are so many of these initiatives centered on Utah? Are we not a global church? Is this just knowing one's backyard and reacting accordingly?

The format for General Conference will change in 2018, with Priesthood Meeting and the Women's Meeting taking turns in the Saturday evening slot. What does this change mean for commerce in Utah County?!

Likewise, the Church recently changed the format for Visiting Teaching messages: "Do What She Needs." This is great, but we're still puzzled that so many Latter-day Saints just focus on a message and stick to a script. Why?! Why do you not just serve people?!

In other temple news: the Houston Texas Temple will, indeed, go down for major refurbishments following hurricane damage. It will be rededicated quietly in 2018. Also, a cool story about how stained glass windows from a Presbyterian church found their way into three newer LDS temples. Church officials also broke ground on the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple in October.

The Church updated the social media logos for a number of its properties last week, but failed to provide much context or inform the public that this was not a change of the Church's actual logo. Chaos ensued. Confused was felt. Rest assured, this was to combat the bevy of Mormon-related Facebook Pages that are not run by the Church.

Sorry, fans of VidAngel. Its troubles continue to mount. The filtering firm announced recently that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to the company, this is all well and good, but... come on. Dark days ahead, people.

In missionary-related news: Matt Holland (son of Jeffrey R.) has been called as a mission president, stymying the hope of many that he would eventually run for governor of Utah. Also, enterprising young minds send their friends fake mission calls, which is both fun, dumb,

The sisters are back, and they are reallllllly excited about Sodalicious opening in the Boise area. Also, psuedo celebrity sightings, including famed mommy blogger Sarah Wells, who wrote Our Best Bites! These are wild times we live in, folks.

The Meridian Idaho Temple dedication is coming up, and with it a cultural celebration. A full review is forthcoming, but the Sisters have some fun stories about their kids' involvement in the celebration, as well as their own volunteer efforts to support the open house. What have your experiences been with prep for a temple dedication? It's all hands on deck!

Elder Robert D. Hales passed away last week. Are the Sisters, (née Hales) related to Elder Hales?! Many speakers at the funeral shared affirming anecdotes about Elder Hales' service, some about Elder Hales' wife, Mary Crandall. So what about Mary Crandall Hales? Why don't we know more about apostles' wives? Tiffany sleuths the internet for interesting stories about the wives of General Authorities, to great results.

Another story from the funeral: Elder Hales' near-death experience as related by President Eyring.

Why is Utah food so... Utah? A new article out of the Standard-Examiner examines Utah gastronomy, such as fry sauce, funeral potatoes, green jell-o, etc. But is the jell-o stereotype of Utah played out? Is it still a thing? Also, Arianne's husband thinks good salads are "girly" salads, because apparently good food is girly. Time to reconsider your choices, Arianne.

An LDS mom has worked with her children to get perfect ACT Scores. Tiffany breaks down the key ways you, too, can game the testing system and get your kids into BYU.

How about Utah being the mecca for modest fashion? It makes sense, but there's more to it than you might think.

It's been 32 years since the LDS hymnal was last updated. Is it time for a revision? Which hymns would you remove? Which would you add? We cover some of your very best Facebook comments.

A new BYU study says it is better to be direct and brief when delivering bad news to people. So don't tell someone they are a good person when you break up with them. Just cut it off. Shut it down.

It's our General Conference recap show! Join Geoff and Al as we go over the five sessions from this weekends 187th Semiannual General Conference and discuss their impressions and thoughts.

Also, Elder Robert D. Hales passed away during conference. We remember a meek and powerful servant of the Lord.

Check out our friends over at the Talks on Talks podcast, where they spend each episode going over individual Conference talks.

Miss some talks or sessions? Check it out here.

Al and Geoff are back in the saddle with our pre-General Conference episode!

Should you feel guilty if you make temple attendance goals and fail? How reasonable is it, truly, to push to attend the temple more often?

The Church purchased the original printer's manuscript of the Book of Mormon from the Community of Christ for a cool $35 million. Yep, million. How do we feel about relics and the huge costs therein? Who was responsible for the price? Did the Community of Christ set it and forget it? Also, Fox News had terrific coverage of the event.

Caffeine is here! BYU has been liberated! For those who somehow missed it, BYU changed its rules to allow the sale of caffeinated sodas, and both the media and the Mormon internets lost their minds.

Hey! Lindsey Stirling was on Dancing With The Stars last week, and she's still alive! If you want to hear a rundown of Mormons in reality or competition television, check out last week's episode with the TWiM Sisters.

In other entertainment news, Killers singer Brandon Flowers thinks Mormonism is misunderstood mostly because it's new. We expect the mystical and fantastic from ancient scripture, but we don't expect it in the 19th century.

Are you into finding nepotism where it might not exist? If so, you'll love that President Henry B. Eyring just installed his son, Henry J. Eyring, as president of BYU-Idaho (the lesser BYU).

Meanwhile, BYU-Provo (the greater BYU) has installed a full-scale replica of the ancient tabernacle. Head on down south and check it out.

Many wish the Church would do "more" with regard to humanitarian work, whether in the form of money or in organization, like becoming a larger, more robust, fully fledged and staffed NGO. But it's not as simple as that. Carolyn Homer has a great new piece at By Common Consent about some of the structural limitations that are actually present in the Church.

Allure Magazine has a segment about Mormon women and beauty "standards" and BOY has it blown up on the interwebs. Check it out for yourself and let us know what you think.

Other news: two-thirds of active Utah Mormons support legalized medical marijuana, the Philippines gets a

We've go ta special rundown of Mormons on reality television! Lindsey Stirling makes her debut on Dancing With The Stars and kicks major butt. The TWiM Sisters are here to break it all down.

Evie Clair continues to dominate on America's Got Talent.

What about Jungle Gold, an awful reality show that had two Mormons trying to exploit local resources mine for gold in Ghana? The cast and crew were even accused of murder.

And just as importantly, an innocent teenager gets sucked into competing on Project Runway Junior, which is apparently a show. (Can you tell that while the Sisters handle recording their own show, they are definitely not the ones writing the show notes?!)

The Deseret News has a full rundown of the 90 Mormons who have appeared on reality TV show since 2000. Here's looking at you, Julie Stoffer!

Also, in news that matters, President Eyring visits Hurricane-ravaged Florida, lending a hand and lifting spirits.